Hero Certified Burgers

John Lettieri, who also runs the Lettieri café chain, opened the first Hero Certified Burgers on 8 November 2003 in Hazelton Lanes, a shopping centre in Toronto’s Yorkville, launching it with a citywide party for the Signature Burger. The idea was a quick-service burger franchise built on sourcing: Angus beef the company calls “certified”, from grain-fed cattle raised without added hormones, antibiotics or animal by-products in their feed. It was one of the first Canadian burger franchises to sell itself that way.

The chain grew to around sixty restaurants, mostly in Ontario. Attempts to go further were short-lived: a branch in Buffalo, New York, opened in 2015 and closed the next year, and Montreal lasted from 2017 to 2023. More recently some locations have become virtual kitchens that cook only for delivery. The fries are Cavendish Farms potatoes from Prince Edward Island, and the menu also has poutine.

The burgers are built to order: you pick a 4, 6 or 8 oz patty, a sesame, potato, gluten-free or lettuce bun, and toppings, or take one of the house combinations. Calories are listed for every item on the menu.

Dozens of restaurants, mostly in Toronto and southern Ontario, some of them delivery-only virtual kitchens.

• Carl's Jr. (United States, since 1941). Charbroiled burgers, onion rings inside the bun, and ads nobody forgot. Also built on beef, bacon, crispy onions and cheese.
• Farmer Boys (United States, since 1981). A Southern California drive-thru started by brothers from Cyprus. Also built on beef, bacon, avocado and cheese.
• Red Robin (United States, since 1969). The sit-down burger chain with bottomless fries and a burger topped with a fried egg. Also built on beef, bacon, crispy onions and cheese.
• Burger 21 (United States, since 2009). A Tampa burger chain from the family behind The Melting Pot, with numbered burgers and a sauce bar for the fries. Also built on beef, bacon, avocado and cheese.